Chabazite, which has the crystal structure designated “CHA”, is a natural zeolite with the approximate formula Ca6Al12Si24O72. Synthetic forms of chabazite are described in “Zeolite Molecular Sieves” by D. W. Breck, published in 1973 by John Wiley & Sons. The Synthetic forms reported by Breck are: zeolite “K-G”, described in J. Chem. Soc., p. 2822 (1956), Barrer et al.; zeolite D, described in British Patent No. 868,846 (1961); and zeolite R, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,181, issued Apr. 17, 1962 to Milton et al. Chabazite is also discussed in “Atlas of Zeolite Structure Types” (1978) by W. H. Meier and D. H. Olson.
The K-G zeolite material reported in the J. Chem. Soc. Article by Barrer et al. is a potassium form having a silica:alumina mole ratio (referred to herein as “SAR”) of 2.3:1 to 4.15:1. Zeolite D reported in British Patent No. 868,846 is a sodium-potassium form having a SAR of 4.5:1 to 4.9:1. Zeolite R reported in U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,181 is a sodium form which has a SAR of 3.45:1 to 3.65:1.
Citation No. 9366052y in Volume 93 (1980) of Chemical Abstracts concerns a Russian language article by Tsitsishrili et al. in Soobsch. Akad. Nauk. Gruz. SSR 1980, 97(3) 621-4. This article teaches that the presence of tetramethylammonium ions in a reaction mixture containing K2O—Na2O—SiO2—Al2O3—H2O promotes the crystallization of chabazite. The zeolite obtained by the crystallization procedure has a SAR of 4.23.
The molecular sieve designated SSZ-13, which has the CHA crystal structure, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,538, issued Oct. 1, 1985 to Zones. SSZ-13 is prepared from nitrogen-containing cations derived from 1-adamantamine, 3-quinuclidinol and 2-exo-aminonorbornane. Zones discloses that the SSZ-13 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,538 has a composition, as-synthesized and in the anhydrous state, in terms of mole ratios of oxides as follows:
(0.5 to 1.4)R2O: (0 to 0.5)M2O:W2O3: (greater than 5) YO2 wherein M is an alkali metal cation, W is selected from aluminum, gallium and mixtures thereof, Y is selected from silicon, germanium and mixtures thereof, and R is an organic cation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,538 does not, however, disclose boron-containing SSZ-13.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,644, issued Mar. 23, 2004 to Zones et al., discloses zeolites having the CHA crystal structure and having small crystallite sizes. It does not, however, disclose a CHA zeolite containing boron. It is disclosed that the zeolite can be used for separation of gasses (e.g., separating carbon dioxide from natural gas), and in catalysts used for the reduction of oxides of nitrogen in a gas stream (e.g., automotive exhaust), converting lower alcohols and other oxygenated hydrocarbons to liquid products, and for producing dimethylamine.
U.S. Patent Publication US 2003/0176751A1 discloses zeolites having the CHA crystal structure with a silica/alumina molar ratio below and above 265. The reaction mixture with hydrofluoric acid used to produce the zeolite has a low Wt % yield of zeolite based on silica. It also does not produce zeolites having the CHA crystal structure wherein the mole ratio of silicon oxide to boron oxide in the zeolite is between 15 and 125.